She's been taken
by lysjelonken
Summary: What if Red John takes Lisbon hostage? JISBON!
1. Chapter 1

**She's been taken**

**HI PEOPLE OF THE CYBER WEB! This fic came to me in a **_**dream**_**…..**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my words… wow, that was poetic… Who knew? Damnit, I ruined it!**

It was an ordinary day when Patrick Jane walked into the CBI.

There wasn't a case, so the team was just sitting in the bullpen, finishing paperwork and minding their own business.

And he was getting horribly bored.

"Hey, Rigsby! Wanna bet?"

"Wanna bet what?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. Anything. I'm booooooooored…" He stretched out the last word, whining.

"I can't now, Jane. I need to get this paperwork done. Bother Cho."

Cho didn't even register Rigsby's comment, as his nose was buried in a book. His paperwork was already filled out and stacked neatly at the corner of his desk. Jane doubted Cho would react well to entertaining him now, if he even reacted at all.

Scrunching up his nose, he told Rigsby so. Before he could even ask Van Pelt, she muttered something that sounded like: "Coffee… walk… niffet…"

"Please Rigsby? I've got nothing to do."

"Jane, go bother Lisbon."

"I can't go bother Lisbon. There's only decaf in the kitchenette. I doubt she's had her daily intake of caffeine. She'll eat me alive!"

Cho looked up from his book.

"Speaking of which, where is Lisbon? I haven't seen her all day."

"Her office light is on. She's probably just trying to _get _her paperwork done. Like I'm trying to do." Rigsby's voice was annoyed.

"You know what, you're right Cho… She hasn't been out of that office all day. I'm going to possibly risk my life by checking on her…" He stood up and started towards Lisbon's office door.

Turning back, he added: "If I'm not back in ten minutes, just come and make sure I'm alive."

"Lisbon!" He called as he opened her door.

The sight that he saw took him by surprise and horrified him to the core.

Lisbon's office was torn apart. Papers lay everywhere, signifying a rough struggle. Her desk was standing askew and her chair lay sideways.

But the sight sent a chill through his entire body, the sight that made his heart drop flat in his chest was the dark crimson markings on her carpet. A large red smiley face was painted on the floor.

The calling card of his nemeses.

"CHO! RIGSBY! HELP!"

The two agents rushed to his side, gasping horrified at the sight before them.

Cho immediately went into Agent-mode, pulling out his cellphone and alerting dispatch.

While all this went on, Jane moved slowly, hypnotized, to the desk lamp on her desk, the neck of which craned over the red insignia on the floor.

Around the desk lamp hung her golden necklace.

Silently, he whispered: "She's been taken."

**Okay, so if you're feeling a little lost, Lisbon's been taken by Red John.**


	2. Chapter 2

**She's been taken: Chapter 2**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

_Drip… drip… drip… drip…_

_Where am I?_ She opened her eyes, scrunching up her eyes as they adjusted to the harsh light.

The first thing she notices is that she's lying on a hard concrete surface. She braces herself against it, wincing at the sharp pain her head.

The room looks like somebody's basement; dirty, white walls with cracks in the paint, a dusty, concrete floor and a lingering smell of mildew.

And no door.

She tried to stand up, but her legs gave in from under her. As she fell to the ground a metallic clanking caught her attention.

"Oh great." She mumbled, noticing the chain and cuffs around her ankles, leading to a hook in the concrete floor.

_How did I get here?_

As if on cue, the memory of the night before came back to her.

_She was working late, finishing the paperwork after an especially grueling case. It even seemed to affect Jane, who also disappeared as soon as quitting time came. She would be home too, but she couldn't bear the thought of going home to an empty apartment.  
She heard the sound of footsteps outside her office, but didn't take much notice, flagging it as the late-night cleaning crew. _

_She was taken completely by surprise when three men, dressed in black hoodies, burst into her office._

_She reached for her gun in its holster on her hip, but as soon as she drew it, one of the men hit her hard, causing the gun to fly from her grasp. She tried her bes to fight back but there were too many of them._

_Before she knew it, everything went black…_

A clatter shook her from her thoughts. She looked up, seeing a metal plate that seemed to appear through a slot in one of the walls.

There was also an eye looking at her through the slot.

"Miss Lisbon? Are you comfortable in there?"

She wanted to reply, but her voice came out to raspy to identify the words.

She heard a cruel, dark chuckle.

"I'm glad…"

With that the slot snapped shut, leaving her alone again.

"We need to find her…"

"I know, Patrick."

"He's got her…" He was pacing, mumbling more to himself than to Hightower, whom he was addressing. In his fist he clenched her golden necklace.

"We've got our best team on it. You know that…" She walked around her desk to put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He jerked away.

"Patrick, I've never seen you like this."

"This is my fault. He's going to kill her… and it's my fault."

"Sit down… Have some tea. You're no help to the investigation like this. In fact, I've been thinking we might have to pull you off completely."

"No!" He shot up, his face more intense and violent than she's ever seen it. "I will find her."

With that he sped out her office to the bullpen.

"Van Pelt. Tell me you have something."

"The blood came back as human, but fortunately not hers…" You could hear a sigh of relief through the room.

"Forensics came back negative. They must've worn gloves, because the only fingerprints on the desk is hers."

His troubled expression didn't do much to set the team at ease.

"Did the security cameras come with anything?"

"They…"

"What?"

"They were hacked, Jane." Rigsby finished Van Pelt's thought.

"Of course…" His voice was barely a whisper. "Of course they were hacked."

Sitting down, he cradled his head in his hands. Tears stung his eyes, but he didn't allow them to fall.

"Jane. This is boss. She's tough. Red John wouldn't have kidnapped her if he was just going to kill her anyway. He's using her for something, that's a fact. He's a showman. He won't just take her and that's that. He's gonna make contact." Cho's attempt to comfort him might not have been the most comforting thought, but it was true.

"He's gonna use her to taunt me…" Jane whispered, loud enough for the team to hear.

No one questioned why he would take Lisbon to taunt Jane. It was pretty obvious.

Van Pelt moved from behind her desk and crouched to Jane's level where he was sitting on the couch.

"She'll be okay."

He shook his head. "No, she won't. But we're gonna find her until something really bad happens."

**Reviews make me update faster: FACT.**

**All my love**

**Zanny**


	3. Chapter 3

**She's been taken: Chapter 3**

**Sorry for taking forever to update. I've had interschools! Don't know what that is? SHAME ON YOU! Have a link!**

.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"Damn it, why is it taking so long?"

"Jane, you gotta give these things some time… You're doing exactly what Red John wants. Panicking. He's waiting to call to build the tension, to make us desperate. We have to keep busy with what we have." Rigsby tried to calm him down.

"And what's that? We've got nothing but a mussed-up office and a stain on the carpet!" He was getting upset, his eyes flaring with fury.

"I think I've got us a starting point." Van Pelt rushed into the bullpen (as was becoming the pace of the team, since Lisbon was taken). "Forensics came back about the blood."

"I thought you said it wasn't Lisbon's?"

"It's not. But it is human, so they ran the DNA through CODIS and got a hit. Peter Hastings, priors for aggravated assault and possession. Local druggie gets violent when he's high."

Jane sighed. "Great. A random druggie off the street. Perfect. He probably just lured him to a truck with the promise of a hit and stabbed him to death right there. This is useless."

His shoulders were slumped, his head cradled in his hands. This was a man who had lost all hope.

"Jane… we'll find her. Keep faith…" Van Pelt whispered, comfortingly.

Just then, Cho burst into the office. "We've got contact."

She awoke again, more alert this time.

It took her a while to remember where she was and why, but once she did her training as a law enforcement Agent immediately kicked in.

_Survey your surroundings, Teresa…_

She closes her eyes and listens. Pure silence floods her eardrums.

No traffic. No voices. No ocean or river sounds around her. Not even birdsong. Just… silence.

She takes a deep breath and smells the air…

Only mildew. Nothing significant to narrow her location down.

She tries to move, but is reminded of the chains around her ankles by a clanking metallic noise and violent friction against her skin. Looking down, she sees the flesh under the chains is already red and raw.

Another bad thing about the chains, other than the pain, was that it kept her from moving more than a few feet from the hook in the floor. It was well-placed, though. Just close enough to go to what looked like a dirty porcelain toilet bowl (_Thank goodness for that!_) and close enough to the slot in the wall to, Lisbon presumed, get food if they were kind enough to allow her some.

Lisbon wasn't a fool. She was at a disadvantage here. She was chained to a floor without her weapon or any opportunity or means to escape.

The smartest thing she could do at this point was play along to the captors wishes and hope they have mercy on her long enough that the team could somehow figure this all out and find her…

The same metallic clutter as before caught her attention. Eyes peered through to her through the slot.

"Why good morning Miss Lisbon. It's good to see you're awake. We got worried there for a minute."

She struggled to form the words, her throat dry and cracking. "We?"

The same dark, cruel chuckle sounded, sending a chill down her spine. "Don't you worry about us. And, judging from the sound of your voice, and the fact that you've been unconscious for the most of 48 hours, I'd think you were getting kind of hungry."

Only then did she notice that she was starving. She nodded slowly.

The eyes disappeared away from the slot and instead a bottle of water popped through. Following it was a child's lunch box.

She dragged herself over to where her lunch lay and pulled it to her. Inside the lunch box was a cold stew of some kind. There was rice… definitely rice… maybe some kind of meat?

"Thanks." She muttered, taking a long swig from the water bottle. The cool water stung on the back of her throat.

The slot snapped closed again.

"He called?"

"No. He sent a letter." Cho held the evidence in his gloved-covered hand.

A typed letter on plain white paper. There were traces of fingerprint powder, proving Cho first called Forensics to find some DNA.

"What does it say?"

"It's addressed to you." He handed Jane the letter.

_Dear Mister Jane_

_You didn't forget about me, did you? This routine we have is getting a little dull. I kill, you chase, I elude you… it's all terribly repetitive._

_So I decided to mix things up!_

_Your Lisbon is a feisty little thing! A very intriguing woman indeed, I can see why you keep her around. _

_Well, I think that's all for now… Don't worry; she'll be fine as long as she behaves herself. And as long as you behave yourself as well…_

_RJ_

"She'll be fine… as long as she behaves herself… And as long as we behave ourselves…" Jane mutters silently. "Shit! He doesn't give us anything! _Anything!_" He pounded his fist against the desk. "What now?"

"He leaves it hanging, he says if we behave ourselves but he doesn't set rules. He'll communicate again. And at least we know she's okay for now."

Jane doesn't take the words as comfort. Instead he walks out of the office.

He needs to drive. He needs to get his mind off of this whole mess!

And he knows exactly where he needs to go.

**Next chap: Some Jane/Lisbon indirect romance!**


	4. Chapter 4

**She's been taken: Chapter 4**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

She lay on the cold floor, the pain in her head blunt and sharp at the same time. Before long, she started to dream.

_He was holding her, dancing with her. He smells musky and masculine and amazing._

_His warm arms are wrapped around her waist, pulling her close, his head buried in the crook of her neck._

_He is kissing her neck now, his hands running up her back._

"_Teresa…" _

"_Hmm..?" She's almost sleepy, his soothing presence relaxing her so intensely._

"_I love you." He bends down and kisses her lips softly, tenderly. His hands, in the small of his back, pushed him up against him until she's on her tippy toes, almost of the ground, almost on his level._

"_I miss you…" He whispers, out of breath._

She snaps awake when she hears a sound above her head. Looking up, she sees a hatch in the ceiling she hasn't noticed before. And legs coming down the hatch, lowering him down.

When the man lands on the floor beside her, he glances down at her. His eyes are cold and black.

"Hello, Miss Lisbon. How are you?"

Breath hitches in her throat. She can't speak. Not when the monster they've been going after for so long is holding her hostage.

"Relax, Teresa. We're just going to a new home." He raised his leg up towards her head, and everything went black.

Her bed smelled like cinnamon, just like her. The sheets were imbedded with her scent, and it was like he could feel her presence in the room.

He laid there, her Spice Girls CD blaring from the stereo that was on her bedside table.

Before long he started to see her in his mind eye…

_She was wearing that same football jersey she wore the night he was here to prove her innocence. That night she was also dancing like she was now, dancing like nobody was watching her._

_She jumped and danced around the room, moving to the music, her hips swaying. He thought that now he knew how it felt to be hypnotized._

_She noticed him lying in her bed and raised her eyebrow. Not in the sarcastic way she normally does. In a way that made him want to kiss her senseless._

_She also seemed to have that idea. Moving to the bed she crawled onto it, lying down in his arms. She looked him straight in the eye and ran her fingers through his curls._

"_You're on my bed, Patrick." Before he could respond, she captured his lips in a passionate kiss. _

_Lost in the sensations of her lips, he didn't even notice when she rolled him over, lying on his chest, continuing with her ministrations._

He was snapped out of his dream when his cell phone rang shrilly. He didn't want to answer it.

The only person it could be was work. That would remind him of the reality. He wanted to keep staying in his little dream world, surrounded by Lisbon's scent and music. Dreaming of her.

After a few rings, the cell phone listens to him and shuts up. He sighs, closes his eyes and tries to return to the romantic image he had in his mind.

But, to no avail. After mere seconds, the cell phone's intrusion returned.

Sighing annoyedly, he picks up the phone.

"Jane."

"Jane! It's Van Pelt! You have to get to work RIGHT NOW! After you left I found some strange markings on the envelope. It turns out to be pressure marks from a pen. There's a whole other message. And a riddle to a location! We know where she is!"

**This one was real short, but there was indirect romance as promised. **

**Next chap: Will Jane and the team be in time to catch RJ and find Lisbon before they leave? Will Lisbon be saved? Or will she be lost forever?**

**Keep reading and please review…**

**Zanny**


	5. Chapter 5

**She's been taken: Chapter 5**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine**

Cho lead the agents, guns drawn. An entire swarm of uniforms have shown up to retrieve her, the loyalty of the CBI shining through. She was one of their own and one of their own was personal.

The place was just a house. Just an average house in an average neighbourhood. White picket fence and all. They shouted out, addressing themselves, notifying whoever might be inside that the CBI is coming in and they should give themselves up before someone gets hurt.

No response.

After barely two seconds, Cho kicks down the front door and the officer's flood into the house, searching every room and hallway for any sign of her.

Jane jogs through them, urgently looking through every room, giving it his expert gaze.

A chorus of 'Clear's came from all directions, indicating that there was no one here. No sign of her. No sign of _anyone_.

Jane's throat is becoming thick, his heart heavy and his eyes watery. Of course they're not here. There's probably a note here somewhere, though. Another taunting note with another taunting clue.

He plops down on the couch, his head in his hands (a customary position, lately).

After who knows how long, Cho comes to him.

"Nothing. Not even a note."

"No note?" This makes Jane look up. "No, there's a note. There has to be a note. You just overlooked it, that's all."

"Jane, we've gone through every room. Twice. Three times. There's nothing." His hands are on his shoulders, his face sad. It's a strange occurrence for the stoic agent, showing a trivial emotion such as sadness.

"I'll take a… Cho, move from there." Something catches Jane's eye, under Cho's feet. Cho, looking confusedly at his feet, moves. Jane gets down on his knees, feeling the carpet.

There's a subtle – very, very subtle – bulge under it. Jane pulls the carpet away, his face suddenly victorious.

There's a hatch. A hatch on one hinge (the single bulge), closed and completely level with the floor. It's not just amateur wine cellar work, this.

Hastily, Jane tugs open the hatch, breaking the weak lock easily in his urgency.

Looking down, he sees a cement floor.

"There's a room! Cho, there's a room under the house!" He jumps down the hatch, landing on his feet in the room underneath.

But when he's down, he is silent.

"Jane! Jane, what's down there?"

"Cho..!" He yells, his voice breaking in panic.

Cho jumps down. He too is silenced by the sight.

The room is you're a captor's dream. Hard cement floor, dirty white walls, a single toilet, chains lying on the floor, attached to a hook embedded in the cement… perfect for holding some poor individual against her will…

But that's not what's got them silent in shock.

On the dirty floor there are large blood stains, close to the chains. It's hers, that's obvious enough. But the blood markings are thin, streak marks running across them.

The reason why is on the wall.

Written in blood (_Her blood. No…) _is a word…

"Soon…" Jane whispers. A single tear involuntarily falls down his cheek.

"What does that mean?" Cho asks. He's just as horror-stricken as Jane, but he doesn't show it as much.

"It means… we haven't got much time left…"

**Okay, that was really short I apologize. But I want to keep the pace up and that was one hell of a cliff-hanger! Thanks to the awesome few who read, please review, they make me so very happy!**

**Zanny**


	6. Chapter 6

**She's been taken: Chapter 6 **

**Hi all! Thanks for the reviews! Things are coming to a close soon, expect some heavy fluff in chapter next and thereafter! Funny, most of my fics are coming to an end now, for those reading this who also read Meeting Macy and Red Road. (wink wink, hint hint!)**

**I saw Simon Baker on Ellen last night (we're a bit behind on episodes here in SA) and he was hilarious! That add he did way back when were he dances like an idiot! Funny, even with that army-hair cut, he's still hotter than the Sun. (Lame metaphor. I'm swooning, give me a break!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Si… Sim… (sigh)…. Mmm, Simon Baker. No, I don't own him. But, hell, I wish I did!**

* * *

"It's her blood." Van Pelt grimly announces.

"It's her blood." Jane mumbles, echoing her.

Since the discovery of where Lisbon was kept, he's been absent and broken. There were horrifying amounts of evidence concerning her.

Her blood on the floor. Her blood and skin on the chains. Her hair on the ground. Her DNA on a water bottle and child's lunch box that lay discarded in the corner of the room.

_At least he fed her…_ Jane thinks. _At least he's taking care of her… Only to keep her alive longer to torture her…_ His thoughts grew dark again.

"Jane! Jane, get up."

"Why?" Cho was pulling him off the couch and he was limp in his grasp. This seemed to alarm the stoic agent, if only for a moment.

"We've got leads, Jane. We found his house. Red John's slipped up once before, it's likely he left some trace behind that'll tell us where they went."

"You saw the blood on the wall!" He exploded. "You saw! He hurt her, he hurt her enough to make her bleed, to make her bleed so much that he could _write_ a message on the _damned wall!_ How sick is that? What… what kind of monster…" He couldn't finish his sentence; he fell to his knees, sobbing. Cho helped him up again to his couch.

"Jane… we've got leads. We're working our fingers to the bone, through the night, no lunch breaks, no bathroom breaks. One of them will come through. We'll get her back." He promised.

"This is my fault. This is all my fault. If it wasn't for me Red John wouldn't care about any of this, he wouldn't care about her and…"

"Jane! Relax! You can't blame yourself for this! If you want to get her back, the best thing you can do is follow the leads and help us find her."

* * *

This new place was different. It wasn't the 'professional'-like hostage room like before, but a shack of sorts. Like a shed, wooden walls, dirt floor, the smell of mould and musk in the air.

It was cold, too. Frosty coolness crept out under the walls and sent shivers through her. There wasn't a light bulb here, nor a toilet or anything else. The only light came from through cracks between the wood that made the walls.

The new destination, plus the insecurity of it all, told her this was a make-do keep. Her captor probably chose to move on impulse, decided the previous location was unsafe or uninteresting. Or that this new one was a better location to kill her.

She sat up, squinting in the darkness. As her eyes adjusted to the light, again she decided to observe.

She heard the rustling of wind through trees – tall trees, like a forest. She was discouraged. It wouldn't be easy for the team to find her here.

She felt the damp soil beneath her fingers – loose, trampled. That doesn't say much.

She moves, her hands feeling against the walls. She isn't cuffed anymore, but there are raw, red marks on her skin where the chains had scuffed her. The wooden walls gave off splinters, stinging against her hands. She felt a recess… A door!

Not believing her luck, she felt for a doorknob. The cold, metallic knob felt foreign and large in her hand. When she turned it, it turned in a full circle, but didn't open the door.

_Fantastic!_ She thought, sighing. The doorknob doesn't work. The door is sturdy against the wooden shed, probably nailed in or locked from the outside.

Falling on her back, dismayed, she registers the pain in her head.

It stung and gnawed, making her wince painfully. She tentatively raised a finger to it, bringing it back wet and red. She remembered his foot… then black.

_The bastard kicked me in the head!_

Trying to ignore the pain and think about something else – anything else – her thoughts wandered to her life.

She was afraid, something she was too familiar with than she liked to admit. Through her hard life she's felt too much fear to mention, and she still experienced the horrible emotion on an almost daily basis, thanks to her job.

But she loved her life, she did. She loved her job, loved her team. They were like her family, now that both her parents were gone and she'd lost contact with her brothers for the most part.

And her thoughts went to Jane – charming, teasing, dark, broken Jane. Jane who made her heart miss two beats every time he looked at her with his cerulean eyes and smiled at her. Jane who broke her heart every time the angry, broken, vengeful side of him showed its ugly head. Jane who's had her heart, to break and otherwise, since much too long ago.

Jane who, now, would never know how she feels about him. Who would never know that she dreams about him at night, wishes that he'd come into her office and notice her as more than his hard-as-nails boss.

She misses him. She loves him. And, even though she's pretty sure that her captor is, in fact, Red John, she doesn't resent him for getting her into this, not even for a moment.

She lies there and listens to the silence of the forest, the wind, the scurrying of woodland creatures… until one piercing gunshot sends the silence flying away, and brings a haze of yelling and screaming in its place.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! As said in before-note, next and next will be the last few chaps, expect fluff and smiles! (Not that that's much of a jump for me! I think this might be the most tragic fic I've written… No, I did that angst oneshot and Finish… Oh no, I'm rambling!)**

**Reviews, please?**

**Zanny**


	7. Chapter 7

**She's been taken: Chapter 7**

**Thanks to all reviewers! Especially Crystal, for reviewing on every chapter! **

**Disclaimer: No, I own nothing.

* * *

**

She hears, above the yelling and ruckus outside, someone urgently fumbling with the lock on the door.

The man from the before – the one with the cold, black eyes that kicked her in the head – runs in. His face wears a nervous expression, his eyes wild and his hands fumbling. He runs to the side of the one wall to a rack which she didn't notice before. On it were rows and rows of jars filled with green sludge.

"Hello Teresa…" She shivered at his voice. Though it had a nervous, rushed edge to it, it was still cold and black and _creepy_. He was fumbling with the top of the jar.

"Wh-what are you doing..?"

He only smiled his cruel smile and continued. "You're team is more resourceful than initially expected…"

This was proven correct when she heard Cho yelling in the background to someone to drop their weapon. There was a show-down going on outside.

He finally opened the jar, and snapped on a glove on his one hand. He then turned to her and she caught a glimpse of the sludge in the jar – green.

She went cold and motionless – she recognized it. It was the same poison that was smeared on Rebecca when she was sent to prison. She died within seconds.

_Oh no…_

He came closer and she started kicking and scratching blindly in his general direction, panic taking over her. She's been in life-threatening situations before with her job, but she's never been this limp and useless.

Despite her efforts, his strength overtook her and he pinned her down. He was coming closer, closer, the jar in his one hand, dangling precariously above him.

She yelled out.

"It's no use, Teresa. If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!"

She yelled out again, her one hand pulling free and catching his hand that was heading to her neck, the green smear on his forefinger.

They struggled. Her eyes teared up, her hands started to tremble.

_I'm going to die… I'm going to die…_

The suddenly a shot. And it all went black…

* * *

**Okay, I know that's absurdly short, but it's tense moment! I didn't want to overload it. You're gonna have to wait for the next one to see what happens… Ha, I'm cruel! **

**Please review…**

**Zanny!**


	8. Chapter 8 epilogue

**She's been taken: Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: No, still not mine.

* * *

**

When she woke up, she was cold. All around her, things were bright and fluorescent… _clean. _Shiny.

She thought: _Am I in heaven?_

Then a voice. _Jane's_ voice. "Morning sleepyhead."

She looks up in the direction of the voice. Her eyes take a while to get used to the light, but once she could see clearly again, the sight shocked her.

She's never seen him like this. He had dark rings under his eyes, weariness shining through them and his usual three-piece suit was wrinkled. His curls had fell flat on his head, like he hasn't washed them in a while. The entire image painted the picture that Jane hadn't moved from this chair in a while…

"Wow. You look horrible."

At her words, his charming smile showed itself, lighting up his face and making him look instantly better.

"Speak for yourself. You know you had us worried there for a minute."

Lisbon looked down at herself and was instantly shocked. She's always had a slender, petite figure but the state of her arms shocked her. She had gotten so skinny… and her skin was pale and sickly.

"Oh my… Jane… how long have I been like this?"

"You mean how long have you been in the coma?"

"COMA?"

"Yes. But don't worry, you only missed out on five short years."

"FIVE YEARS?"

Jane started to chuckle and Lisbon almost threw something at him. "You're joking!"

"Yeah, yeah I am…" He managed between his laughter.

"Don't do that!" By this time they were both laughing.

After a while like this, their laughter died down and the conversation became serious once more.

"You've been out a little more than a week."

"A week?"

"Yes. Do you remember much?"

Lisbon closed her eyes, trying to remember. "I remember being held… in a shack, or something."

"It was a wooden structure in the woods. Poorly built, next to the cabin where Red John lived."

"You caught him?" She perked up.

Jane hesitated. "Not exactly. He… he, was over you. You two were struggling."

The memories seemed to hit Lisbon like a train. "He… he was going to poison me…"

"You two were struggling when I slipped through the stand-off outside. I shot him. With one of the guns you had hidden in the office, no less." He chuckled, keeping the intense conversation light.

"You shot Red John?" She knew he severity of this for him.

"He was going to kill you. He almost did. Some… some of the poison smeared on your arm. It was just a little, less than the amount that he intended, which would have been lethal in a matter of seconds. But it was touch and go. Luckily we had foreseen injuries and called paramedics beforehand…"

"Wow."

"Yeah…" He looked down at his hand, but she could see the tears brimming in his eyes. He moved to her bedside and took her hand.

"Teresa, I almost lost you." Tears were now falling.

"It's okay…" She pulled him into her arms and let him break down. His head was buried in the crook of her neck and she could feel the warm teardrops against her skin. She stroked his hair, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. "It's okay…"

"No, it's not okay." He looked up at her now, his hands cupping her cheeks, looking deep into her eyes.

"Teresa, this whole thing has shown me how important you are to me. I can't lose you, I can't live without you. I… I think I love you, Teresa Lisbon."

She was surprised at his statement. Even though she's (often) thought about how it would be if she and Jane had a relationship, even though he was the only one he thought of when her life was in danger, she never expected him to actually love her back.

Her silence made him vulnerable. "I am sorry." He started to get up, moving to leave.

"No, wait!" She grabbed his hand, pulling him back towards him. The momentum of him swinging back at her and her moving to stop him leaving, sent them flying together into a kiss. It quickly deepened as they both responded fervently.

Her hands went into his (though flat) glorious curls, twirling a golden lock in one of her fingers. He pulled her closer, impossibly closer, not getting enough of her presence, having her _here_, back with him.

When the need for oxygen became too great they both reluctantly broke.

Smiling that smile of his that always made her melt, he spoke. "I've got something for you."

He reached in his pocket and took something out. It glittered in the light. He displayed it to her and she gasped, her hand immediately going to her neck.

Her golden cross.

"It… it was my mom's."

"I know. Red John left it behind when he came and took you." He unclipped the clasp and motioned to her to turn so he could put it on her.

He brushed her raven locks from where they lay on her milky back and reached over her neck. He reached over to fasten it behind her neck, fingers lingering on her skin maybe a little longer than necessary. Once the necklace was back in its place, he placed a chaste kiss on her neck, reveling in the way she softly sighed.

She turned to look at him again, her eyes staring deeply into his. He has always loved her eyes. They were always filled with such passion, such fire. But now, as she looked deep, deep into his soul, he could see something else in her eyes.

Love.

* * *

**Okay random ending but there it is! Hope you guys enjoyed reading cos I sure had fun writing it! Thanks to all my readers and reviewers, you guys are the best!**

**Zanny**


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